Higher Education Students’ Financing Board (HESFB), the authority in charge of the government loan scheme has revealed that they will come up with an online mechanism (portal) that will enable employers to check whether their employees took a students’ loan from the state.
According to HESFB, employers will be required to deduct not more than 30% of the employee’s monthly net salary and remit it to the board. Over 3000 graduates have reportedly defaulted, something that the government is seeking to solve.
“Section 26 of HESFB Act, No2 of 2014 (1) Every employer who employs a person, whose loan is due for repayment, shall, every month deduct the amount specified by the Board from the salary or income of that person for purposes of repaying the student loan,” HESFB tweeted on Monday.
“(2) A deduction under subsection (1) shall not exceed thirty percent of the net salary or income of the employee.” Another tweet shared by the board reads.
However, it remains unclear how government will collect the money from graduates who exit the country for foreign employment.
The communication has come days after they (HESFB ) announced that government had canceled study loans for 47 university students for falsely declaring their parents dead. Apparently, the students, who had already benefited from the scheme will be compelled to refund the money.
We’ll keep you posted!